Closing arguments scheduled in Pennsylvania voter ID trial

HARRISBURG (AP) — Closing arguments are again scheduled in the trial of Pennsylvania’s voter-identification law after they were postponed amid legal wrangling.

Commonwealth Court Judge Bernard McGinley has scheduled the arguments for Thursday. Meanwhile, the state’s legal team has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit and McGinley says he’s reviewing it.

Most of Wednesday’s court session was consumed by a closed-door hearing on the plaintiffs’ analysis of how many voters couldn’t obtain a valid photo ID before last year’s election. State officials objected to the testimony, but the judge didn’t immediately rule on whether it would be admitted as evidence.

The plaintiffs’ lawyers said the state’s trying to distract attention from problems with the free, voting-only IDs that are supposed to be readily available to registered voters. The state’s lawyers say earlier wrinkles have been ironed out.